Dogpatch residents celebrate their changing SF neighborhood

Carlos Godinez sells shirts displaying community pride to JoAnn Barrett (left) and her daughter-in-law Loni Venti at Rickshaw Bagworks during a Dogpatch neighborhood block party in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, May 20, 2017. less

Carlos Godinez sells shirts displaying community pride to JoAnn Barrett (left) and her daughter-in-law Loni Venti at Rickshaw Bagworks during a Dogpatch neighborhood block party in San Francisco, Calif. on ... more

Carlos Godinez sells shirts displaying community pride to JoAnn Barrett (left) and her daughter-in-law Loni Venti at Rickshaw Bagworks during a Dogpatch neighborhood block party in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, May 20, 2017. less

Carlos Godinez sells shirts displaying community pride to JoAnn Barrett (left) and her daughter-in-law Loni Venti at Rickshaw Bagworks during a Dogpatch neighborhood block party in San Francisco, Calif. on ... more

Chris Eliares briefly looked up as he shaved down the sides of his customer’s hair, smiled and high-fived a passerby.

“Hey, I like that haircut, man,” he said laughing, from his makeshift barbershop for the day, with just one chair and a tool kit filled with scissors and brushes, set up in the middle of Dogpatch Playground.

Eliares, whose actual salon is at 2632 Third St. in Dogpatch, joined neighborhood residents Saturday for a block party that brought the community together to partake in deals at nearby restaurants and galleries, listen to music and mingle.

Though the barbershop opened just three years ago, Eliares was born and raised in the neighborhood, which is undergoing a transformation as new housing is built, UCSF expands and early construction continues on an arena for the Golden State Warriors in nearby Mission Bay.

“It was definitely different than what it is now,” said Eliares, 32, reminiscing about the Dogpatch he grew up in. That neighborhood was “a lot more rough and rugged and industrial.”

While some residents have expressed concern at the changes coming to the area, the people out for the block party were hopeful for what’s to come — as long as developers keep the integrity of their neighborhood.

“I like to see progression, as long as it stays true to the Dogpatch culture. The rustic look. Keep that vibe. No frills,” said Eliares, who wore a shirt listing street names in Dogpatch, done in Warriors colors.

Eliares moved to Walnut Creek for more affordable rent once he started having children. But the changing neighborhood offers more business opportunities for the entrepreneur, who plans to open a second barbershop in Dogpatch in August.

An 18-year resident of the neighborhood, Huie said he’s hopeful that the development will encourage the city to pay more attention to the area’s needs — transportation, sidewalk reconstruction and other services.

Huie said he understands why people want to flock to Dogpatch.

“This is the sunniest part of San Francisco,” the 60-year-old said.

On Saturday morning, the sun beamed down on the residents who lined up to get a wristband to partake in the “walk about” to restaurants and art galleries.

Nathan Dushman, 31, sat in the shade of a tree with his wife and 2-month-old daughter as he kept a watchful eye on his son blowing bubbles in the grass less than 10 feet away.

“Yes, I can get your bubble wand out,” he said to his 2-year-old son, Malcolm, fishing it out from the bubble bottle before the boy skipped off grinning.

Dushman moved to the neighborhood from Boston seven years ago, and he and his family haven’t wanted to move anywhere else in San Francisco.

“We like the weather; it’s an easy commute,” Dushman said as his wife rocked his daughter in her arms. “With kids, it’s nice to have a bunch of playgrounds nearby.”

And most importantly, Dushman said, the sunny weather allows residents to grow tomatoes in the community garden nearby — a feat not so easy to accomplish in the foggy city.

White-picket-fenced homes, some freshly painted, line the streets. One abandoned home, at 22nd and Tennessee streets has boarded windows, decaying paint and cigarette butts jammed into the cracks on the staircase.

But a sign pinned on the garage door indicates that a developer is already moving to reconstruct the two-unit building into a three-family residence.

The neighborhood’s streets were relatively empty early Saturday, despite the block party that blared music nearby. The small cafes and restaurants appeared dark from the outside. But upon closer look, the chairs were filled with people eating breakfast and drinking coffee on a sunny city morning.

“It’s like a speakeasy,” Eliares said of the neighborhood feel. “Nothing fancy about it, it’s just Dogpatch.”